Protests in Andes as Fifa bans international games over 2,500m

Football's governing body, Fifa, has drawn angry protests from Andean nations after banning international matches from being played at more than 2,500 metres (8,200ft) above sea level.

The organisation's executive committee said there were medical concerns over playing at high altitudes because the thin air makes breathing difficult and strains the heart of those who are not acclimatised.

Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru cried foul over Sunday's decision, claiming it was an injustice perpetrated by countries whose teams struggled to adapt while playing in the Andes, a mountain range considered the roof of the Americas.

Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, a keen amateur footballer, was due to chair an emergency government meeting yesterday to prepare a response.

Bolivia's football federation accused Fifa of violating the "universality" of football and said there was no justification for banning international games in cities such as La Oruro, Petosi and La Paz, which is 3,600 metres above sea level.

Ecuador and Peru were just as appalled. Peru had planned to host a World Cup qualifier in Cuzco, which at 3,400 metres is high enough for guidebooks to recommend visitors take tablets for altitude sickness.

Commentators speculated that Fifa's decision, announced in Zurich, was the result of lobbying by Argentina and Brazil, influential members whose teams tended to fare poorly in the Andes.

In February a Brazilian club, Flamengo, vowed not to play at altitude again after a match at 3,800 metres against Bolivia's Real Potosi left some of its players needing oxygen bottles. The club called for a ban on matches above 1,500 metres.

Bolivia's media said Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, had forgotten that when he visited the country in 2000 he had boasted about being born in a Swiss mountain village, one of Europe's highest. "Because of that, altitude doesn't frighten me," he reportedly said.